Google's head of search retires as the company turns the reins over to AI

Google’s head of search retires as the company turns the reins over to AI

Amit Singhal, a 15-year veteran of Google and the company’s head of search, announced through Google+ today that he is retiring. Singhal will be replaced by John Giannandrea, who has been running Google’s artificial intelligence research division. Singhal has been a large figure within the company since being named a Google Fellow in 2001—the top rank within Google’s engineering division. He spearheaded essentially rewriting and updating Google’s search algorithm in 2013. His departure comes a little under six months after Google was reorganized as Alphabet, and Sundar Pichai, the former head of Android, was made CEO of the search business. Singhal said in his Google+ post that Feb. 26 will be his last day at Google, and that he plans to explore more philanthropic efforts in the future. “Now is…